Entrepreneurship During the Time of COVID-19

In these unprecedented times, everyone should bear in mind that entrepreneurship is much broader than the creation of a new business venture. At its core, it is a mindset — a way of thinking and acting.

By Bruce Bachenheimer
Director of the Entrepreneurship Lab, Pace University

Entrepreneurship is often associated with some form of disruption, the creation of a significant change in the market. There is perhaps no time more ‘ripe for disruption’ than during a crisis. Airbnb and Uber were founded amid the 2008 financial crisis, and probably would not have succeeded if either was launched a few years earlier or later. Why? Ordinary people would not have been willing to turn their home into a hotel or their car into a taxi absent the financial distress they were facing. Same for customers, who were suddenly willing to sleep in a stranger’s bed and pay for a ride in a regular car. Once these concepts proved successful, they were able to become a new normal.

What innovative business concepts will be born out of the COVID-19 crisis? We’ll have to wait and see. But what’s important to remember is that it’s not about coming up with an interesting idea; it’s about the passion, persistence, and perseverance to actually make it happen.

In these unprecedented times, everyone should bear in mind that entrepreneurship is much broader than the creation of a new business venture. At its core, it is a mindset — a way of thinking and acting. It is about imagining new ways to solve problems and create value. Fundamentally, entrepreneurship is about opportunity; the ability to recognize a new opportunity, to methodically analyze the opportunity, and ultimately, to capture the value of that opportunity. Such skills are important for those seeking to establish new ventures, and critical for a variety of professional careers given today’s hyper-competitive marketplace where rapid technological innovation and globalization has changed the very nature of work.

Today, every institution is facing enormous uncertainty and unique challenges. How are you helping to solve problems and provide benefits for your organization?